There is usually a large amount of charges accumulated in electronic devices (e.g. display panels) during the process of transportation and at various other stages during and after the manufacturing process for such electronic devices. Such accumulation may expose the electronic devices to the impact of a high voltage and cause deteriorated performance or even breakdown of the devices or sometimes even physical injury to the users. Therefore, it is necessary to install electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuits in the electronic devices.
FIG. 1 shows an electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection circuit 100 adopted in the TFT fabrication process. This protection circuit 100 works through the use of thin film transistors 102, 104 and resistors 106, 108, 109 and 110. Because of the relative low tolerance of ESD energy for this transistor-resistor arrangement, the electronic discharge protection circuit 100 is not very effective in protecting the electronic devices from ESD.